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Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer, Now in Theaters

By
Randy Alcorn
| October 26, 2018

Back in 2013, I wrote a blog about Dr. Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortionist, during his trial. Since then, the story has been turned into a film by indie producers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, who say that Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killerwas “one of the most successfully crowdfunded films in history. …Almost 30,000 people donated over $2.3m in 45 days. When it ended it was the most successful crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo website.” It was released to theaters on October 12.

Here’s an article about how despite almost no media coverage, the movie made the list of top 10 movies the weekend that it opened. Life Site News reports that “Most recently, co-producer Phelim McAleer and marketing director John Sullivan have raised concerns about almost 200 theaters dropping the film without explanation, reports of theater staffers actively discouraging and preventing customers from buying tickets, and the New York Timesrefusing to review or run ads for the film.”

Still, the movie grossed $1,235,800 its opening weekend, and also has a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This does not mean, of course, that 98% of the critics liked it. You can see at Rotten Tomatoes that various critics dismiss it as “preaching to the choir” while a number of others say it is an important story that needs to be told. (Unfortunately, according to this review on The Gospel Coalition, which is solidly prolife, the film misses the opportunity to reach a wider audience by taking some unnecessary political jabs, a classic case of losing some of the very audience that needs to be reached.)

You can support the film by sharing about it and going to see it. See a list of theaters where it’s showing at gosnellmovie.com/theaters.

By the way, back in 2013, someone asked me: what should our attitude and response be toward Dr. Gosnell and all those involved in his clinic? I personally know and have spoken at length with three people who used to be in the abortion business who came under the Holy Spirit’s conviction, turned to Christ, and walked away forever from their abortion-funded paychecks. One was an abortion clinic owner, another a physician who did abortions, and the other was a full-time counselor and intake person at an abortion clinic. Each of them is a wonderful person. God can and does sometimes lift the veil of blindness as He must do for each of us related to our own sins. So prayer is the right response—prayer of God’s just judgment upon the unrepentant, yes, but prayer first for their repentance.

Let’s also pray that God would use this movie to open many people’s eyes to the true horrors of abortion.

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